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ALBANY, N. Y. -- Hudson Valley counties appear to be following the national trend of lower unemployment rates compared to November 2014, according to newly released preliminary rates from New York's Department of Labor.

The counties of Columbia, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland and Westchester all made the list of the counties with the lowest unemployment rate in November 2015. At 3.5 percent, Columbia County topped the list.

Putnam County's unemployment rate in November was 4 percent, while Dutchess, Rockland and Westchester counties all had a 4.1 percent unemployment rate.

Other counties that made the list of lowest rates in the state include Tompkins County at 3.7 percent, Nassau and Saratoga counties with 3.8 percent each, and Albany County with 4 percent.

The state's labor department reported that private sector jobs increased by 176,700 from November 2014. Also, the number of private sector jobs in New York state was 7,869,600 in November, which state officials said is an all-time high.

The federal jobless rate was 5 percent in November, which was down by almost one full percentage point from November 2014. Also, the number of people without jobs was down by 1.1 million from a year prior.

For more on New York's unemployment rates for November 2015, visit the state labor department
website
. For details on national unemployment trends, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics
website
.